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Sometimes we do things that we have to forgive ourselves for. Sometimes people do things to us which we have to forgive. No matter what the circumstance is, it’s important to let go. Not letting go only leads to bitterness and resentment. The past is done and nothing can change that. It isn’t easy to let go of things or to forgive sometimes, but God has the power and strength we need.

It can be harder for women to forgive then men, but we are all called to forgive. Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Sometimes it can be hard to forgive yourself too, especially since hindsight is 20/20. It’s even more important to forgive others even if they don’t think they did anything wrong. Matthew 6:14,15: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Jesus forgave those who put him on the cross, and if he can forgive that, we can forgive people for the things they do to us.

If we can’t let go of the past, then we can’t move forward with Jesus. The past is just a worldly past and nothing matters but our relationship with God and others. Not being able to let go is also bad for our bodies and causes ulcers, high blood pressure, insomnia, etc. As God says, our bodies are temples which we need to take care of.

My final thought for the blog: Forgiveness is powerful and opens up the door to grace.

A follower of my blog asked if Jesus was a Christian. Since a Christian is someone who follows Christ, he was technically not a Christian. A Christian also refers to humans and humans are imperfect. Jesus Christ was the son of God who was perfect so that he could die for our sins.

Jesus does not expect any of us to be perfect, he only wants us to love God and each other, and to spread the word of God which we are to follow. What is Gods word? To believe in him and accept Jesus as our lord and savior. As for sinning, we are also told to genuinely repent, and call on God when we’re tempted.

“Christian” is not a term that was used or created by Jesus. Does he care if we call ourselves Christians or not? Would he tell us to call ourselves Christians? He only cares about our actions, not how we define ourselves. Terms like “Christian”, ‘Catholic”, “Presbyterian,” etc. are just labels. There are many assumptions and stereotypes associated with religious terms that can be helpful. Such things include the “good Christian”, Christians are perfect, and that Christians are completely dull and boring. Personally I do call myself a Christian but I use the term loosely. More often then not I prefer to just call myself a believer. No, Jesus was not a Christian, but it doesn’t even matter.

I’m still going through a lot of personal things in my life right now so last night I called the pastor at my old church.

I told him that I’m anxious and don’t know what I’ll do if things don’t turn around soon. He told me to trust God. Sometimes it’s a lot easier said then done but as Christians it’s the best thing we can do. Sometimes it can feel like things will never get better but that’s no reason to stop trusting in God.

As the Bible says, God knows what you need and he cares. We never have to go through worries and burdens alone, we have family, friends, and church to lift us up and build our trust in God. We all go through trials where our faith and trust is tested. Some people have longer trials then others, but they all end.

Proverbs 3:5 states, “trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” It can be impossible to understand why some things happen or why some things don’t happen. Trust that God knows what he’s doing and that he has his reasons.

It’s not our duty to understand why God does what he does, it’s our duty to trust him and have faith in him.

It’s an election year and Mitt Romney has just announced his running mate Paul Ryan. The democrat and republican parties are emphasizing how crucial this election year is but is it really?

This election season don’t worry about electing a candidate. Elect God. When you elect God you made a choice that lasts all eternity. When you elect God you place him before all worldly things. Once you’ve elected God he’ll make sure that all your personal needs are taken care of forever.

Why else should you elect God? God is the creator and ruler of the earth. One day the earth will be gone and there will be no more presidents, rulers, or monarchs. Elect God because the future of the world and your future is in his hands.

No matter who you vote for this election season or if you decide to not vote make the choice to vote for God in your life this election season.

Society tells us that it’s what’s on the outside that counts. This is especially true when it comes to women. Even as young girls we’re subjected to the Hollywood image of beauty. Looks should never be a priority, and there are far more important things to life then looks.

God made us the way we are. He made us look the way we look, and it doesn’t matter how we look to him. We can’t do too much to change how we look on the outside, but there are many things we can do to change how we look on the inside.

Our bodies are temporary and we can’t take them with us to the afterlife. God will take away our bodies when we die, but our souls will be around forever.
It can be hard to ignore all the messages given to us in magazines, billboards, tv shows, and movies, but with God’s help we can put them out of our minds. At the end of the day how we look doesn’t matter at all.

Bad things happen to all of us. Sometimes we cause them to happen and sometimes there’s just no avoiding them. It’s hard when bad things happen to us, but God is there with us.

There are times when family members and loved ones may keep blaming and faulting you for things that happened. Even if it was totally the person’s fault there is no need to put them down or make them feel worse. A lot of times, people don’t mean to make bad things happen to them or make mistakes. Making mistakes is a part of life. We all do things we shouldn’t do, it’s just a part of life.

Bad things happen because God lets them happen. Even if we don’t like them, they are a part of Gods plans for us. God uses bad things to teach us things and help us become closer to him. God lets bad things happen to us to make us stronger and wiser. Bad things happen, but they don’t last forever. After bad things happen, good things happen and we’re better off then we were before.

It can be hard to see a loved one go through tough times. That doesn’t mean you should blame yourself or worry about them blaming you. Things may look bad on the surface, but good things always come out of bad things.

My final thought for this blog is this: would you blame God for anything bad? would you blame someone for being in the middle of Gods plan?